LA Day Trips Without Spending a Dime

Recently I visited The Getty Museum and was absolutely blown away by how beautiful and immaculate the grounds were considering it is free admission to the public. Just like most broke girls in LA, we’re all looking for ways to have fun without breaking the bank and this post is inspired for fun LA day trips that cost next to nothing. I hope you enjoy the post and happy exploring!

#1 The Getty Museum

This was an obvious first choice. The Getty is located just outside one of the most beautiful areas in Los Angeles: Bel-Air. Admission is free to the public all year round and is open from 10 am to 5:30 pm during the week and open until 9 pm on Saturday nights for those of you that want to see the LA lights after sunset. The only downside is the unavoidable $15 parking but this does include a pretty tram ride up the hill to the entrance, or if you feel like being ambitious you can walk!!

Another plus for The Getty is they have a full cafe and restaurant with drinks included if you want to spend the whole day and take your time exploring the exhibits. Food is a little on the pricier side, to be expected, but overall doable considering its free entry.

My personal favorite part of the museum is the fact that they have Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh – two of my all time favorite artists and the pieces they have are mesmerizing in person.

#2 Runyon Canyon

If you are an active (or even mildly active because there are varying degrees of difficulty for trails) Runyon Canyon is a perfect place to either go after work to let off some steam when there is still a decent amount of daylight in the summer or on the weekends and take your time to walk the full length of the trail.

Something else that’s an added bonus to this hike is majority of celebs and A listers use Runyon as their outdoor gym which is great for people watching. The views of WeHo are also just as amazing and are great for stacking up future content for your IG feed!!

#3 The Broad

The Broad is one of LA’s newest contemporary art museums and is home for Eli and Edythe Broad’s collection of 2,000 post-war works. This is another free admission museum and should definitely be on your list of artsy places to check out in Los Angeles. One of the places you must make sure you see when visiting is Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room” – pictured above with @queenofjetlags! I hate to admit this, but I personally have yet to experience The Broad and hoping to cross it off my list of must-sees soon…

#4 Griffith Park

Griffith is right in my backyard and I can’t say enough good things about this place. For my nerdy readers out there, the Griffith Observatory has several exhibits including the Foucault pendulum, Tesla coil and planetarium show. Not only is this place magical by day with its panoramic views, but it is incredible for stargazing at night and also includes night hikes on occasion. If you decide to forgo the hike to the top, just remember parking costs $4 an hour and can be a bit of a pain to find a spot.

#5 Venice Canals

If you don’t know where to look, the Venice canals can be a bit hard to find amidst the griminess of the tourist traps along the beach boardwalk in Venice. HOWEVER, once you do start to wind your way towards Abbot Kinney and reach the canals you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s not a very long strip being only three canal-lined blocks — hence the name, Venice —and you’ll discover a very picturesque scene: arching pedestrian bridges, charming beach houses and a calm you will rarely find near the boardwalk.